She was first elected in the 1992 general election. Under threat of deselection, in 2003 she resigned as Patricia Hewitt's PPS to vote against the Iraq War, having previously voted to support the Government's policy on 26 February. She lost her seat at the 2005 general election to David Howarth of the Liberal Democrats. Campbell's defeat was in part attributed to her perceived indecisiveness over the government's university top-up fee programme: she abstained on the second reading of the bill, then voted with the government on the third reading, despite a public promise that she would oppose the scheme. [1] Campbell was described as a "loyal Blairite" in the national press.

Campbell is a vegetarian. Campbell was often seen riding her bike around the Cambridge constituency and was the first MP to run a website.[4] She married Archibald, a Cambridge professor, in 1963 and they have a son and two daughters.